OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

Evening Star, Issue 14527, 1 December 1910, Page 2

OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

+ ••>- RURAL NEW ZEALAND UNDER REVIEW. By R. J. EiiiES. No. 6, WHERE LAND GROWS CHEAPER. The values quoted in a previous article covered a stretch of country extending over" fifty aiiles in length. Space will not permit o! too much detafl. It must always bo remembered, too, that in the best of the country there axe patches of poor land. Speaking generally, the further one gets away from the coast line the cheaper the land gets. Around the mountain, past Opunake, and towards New Plymouth there are beach lands valued at £4O per aero (with £5 per aero improvements), but as one gets inland £3O, £25, £22, and down to £l3 fox bush lands are quoted. The quality varies greatly. Back to the Eltham-Opunake road, atMangatoki (which averages about 2£ acres to the cow, and other farm stock), there is nothing selling now under £4O an acre. One farm there has changed hands sis times in seven years at an increase each time. It is estimated that the land serving tho Kaponga factory is wortii £25 an acre on an average —pome being a good deal higher, and other land much lower. Still further on, at Awatuna (where the factory supply has doubled itself in five years), £22 10s has been struck as the average, with leases running from 17s 6d to £1 5s per acre, litis paragraph is headed " Where Land Grows Cheaper," but inland, as on the coast, it is ever growing dearer. Nutter-fat has made a boom; tho mainteninco of the price of butter-fat must be {•hiefhr relied upon to keep the boom from bursting. Still, there are other considerations which, even ii butter and cheese slackened in value, would tend to maintain the prico of land. Manv fanners say that with land at £SO and £6O per acre we are riding for a fall. Others say it will yet go to £IOO per aero! In article No. 4 u.n effort was made to specify tho causes which sent land values upwards. Hero ire some reasons which may keep the prices itill advancing : (1) Maintenance or an increase of the pices of produce in the London markets. The opening of new markets. (2) Making, by tho use of manures, rotation of feed crops, and closer farming, two blades of grass (or their equivalent) grow where only one grows now. (3) Improving the producing capacity of the herds by selection and culling. (4) New labor-saving inventions. Cheapening of the cost of making, handling, and shipping dairy produce. These- aro a few of tho Teasons which have been given mo for tho faith which Ls in those who anticipate still higher prices. Thoy apply, of course, not only to lands in Taranaki, but to every district throughout the Dominion. THE COWS OP TARANAKI. Considering the importance of the province as a dairying centre, it is not surprising to find thai the quality of the cows generally is good. Still, they aro not as good as they ought to be. Not nearly. Many fanners say that the cattle have not the 'constitution they once had, tho loss being due to the improper and inadequate feedinc of the calves and the lack of consideration concerning the quality of tho bull. Tho Government officials preach tho necessity for remembering that the bidl is half the hord, but in an aver ago 50-cow cliiiry in Taranaki he is not infrequently alioiit a fiftieth part of the herd in value. This is largely tho result of the shifting population. Those fanners who merely "come and go" do not look forward to establishing themselves and their families in their homes. Certainly they do not think of building up good milking herds for future use. They expect to put in a year or two—and hope to sell at an advance. So long as the cows come into profit they arc satisfied. The calf is an altogether secondary consideration. The ill effects thns produced are gradually being modified by the persistent sffort of many of the settled farmers to breed the best calves possible, recognising in them the progenitors of future dairy herds. —The Most Prominent Breed.— One of the dairy division staff was recently asked what breed of cattle he would recommend fanners to go in for, and he answered: "Tho dairy breed." That is perhaps the only way to describe the '. cattle of Taranaki. Here and there t-hero are farmers who aTe doing splendid work • in specialising in several well-known breeds, and the pure-bTed animals they ; are selling tend to keep tip the general ', standard. Some time ago a lot of Dutch Prekans were brought into the district. < but they have mostly lost their distinc- ; tivenets. Crossing changed their color, but the blue in the cattle one now tecs , in certain parts tells their ancestry. -V well-known breeder recently purchased a :ostly herd of Ayrshires, and his onthnsiistic declaration'is that they will knock :he much-talked-of Jerseys (especially when it comes to cheese-making) quite out of consideration. HeaTd two farmers talking over tho merits of their respective hetds the other day. Said No. 1 : " The best cow I havo is a Holstein, which has a touch of Jersey in her." His neighbor replied : " The best I have is a HolsteinBhorthorn." A lot of people talk Holstein ju6t now. From auction reports it would appear that six years ago there was a reaction against the gentle-looking Jersey. A great many Jersey steers were sent to the yards, but the bntehore found fault with the color of the beef. Then followed a, run on Holsteins, and very few would touch a Jersey. However, these cattle have improved, and the Jersey boom has restarted more strongly than ever. At thk year's winter clearing sales herds of a Jersey type commanded most money, and pure-breds Tealised big prices. Still, there are not a few farmers of experience —and with no predilection for any particular breed—who declare that the Jersey i 6 too small and delicato to suit Taranaki. Apart from the pure-bred horde, the dairy farms possess a great variety of crosses, and in many cases if an owner is asked what breed 6nch-and-such an animal is he will say: "Just cow, just dairy cow." Sometimes he will add : " And she k the best I've got in my hard." —What a Herd Costs.— As land becomes dearer cows become dearer too. It doesn't pay to Tun cheap cattle on dear land. At a recent sale of Jerseys over a dozen pure-breds averaged about 33j guineas, while sixty (grade cows fetched about £l6 apiece. This was a well-known and exceptionally good herd, and the animals were sold at a time and in a locality where they were wanted. Cattle-eeUiog 6eaeon covers the months of May, June, and Jury, and runs sometimes Into the second week in August. Taking an average of thirty-five clearing sales held last winter, of cows to be in full milk by September 6, tho following was the average price per cow :--■ May herd _ ._ £7 per head June herd „ ... £8 to £9 July herd ... .„ £9 to £lO There are more calves being reared in Taranaki this season than has been the * case for 6ome years, but the general opinion is that next season the price of cattle will be higher than ever. A dairy farmer remarked the other day : " Before I die I expect to see dairy cow 6 selling at £2O a head." Without doubt the demand lor first-class milkers will go on increasing is the scales and the Babcock teeter ppint >ut the good cows and unmask tho r . " scrubbers."